OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK • Instant New York Times Bestseller • Shortlisted for the 2024 Carnegie Medal for Excellence

From Jesmyn Ward—the two-time National Book Award winner, youngest winner of the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction, and MacArthur Fellow—comes a haunting masterpiece, sure to be an instant classic, about an enslaved girl in the years before the Civil War.

Let Us Descend is a reimagining of American slavery, as beautifully rendered as it is heart-wrenching. Searching, harrowing, replete with transcendent love, the novel is a journey from the rice fields of the Carolinas to the slave markets of New Orleans and into the fearsome heart of a Louisiana sugar plantation.

Annis, sold south by the white enslaver who fathered her, is the reader’s guide through this hellscape. As she struggles through the miles-long march, Annis turns inward, seeking comfort from memories of her mother and stories of her African warrior grandmother. Throughout, she opens herself to a world beyond this world, one teeming with spirits: of earth and water, of myth and history; spirits who nurture and give, and those who manipulate and take. While Ward leads readers through the descent, this, her fourth novel, is ultimately a story of rebirth and reclamation.

Books will be available for purchase the day of *while supplies last.

No registration or tickets required. Seating is on a first come, first served basis.

This event is in partnership with the University of Delaware: Library, Museums and Press

Cameras are allowed at our events, however, if you have not been given permission by the Wilmington Library director, you must remain seated with your camera. Please do not stand on chairs, in the aisles, or in the back of the room in an attempt to record or take photos. This will not only obstruct the view of others but also causes a fire hazard and potentially blocks our cameras around the room that will be LIVE streaming this event. The standing issue has also hindered guests (especially those in wheelchairs) from coming in and out of the Commons room to find a seat or to use the restroom. Please do not block entrances or exits. Everyone must find a seat. Staff members and/or volunteers will help you find a seat if you can not find one. Please be kind and courteous to one another as well as library staff who work hard to bring you these events.